Without water, life would literally be non-existent. It bathes your cells, nourishes your skin, softens your hair, and helps keep your body energized.
It makes up about 57-60% of the human body, and almost every biochemical process that takes place in there requires or depends on water. This is why we can not last more than just a few days without water, some of it from the food we take. And we’re engineered in such a way that the body automatically tells you when you need to hydrate, you start feeling thirsty. Other than for drinking, we rely on what for a huge variety of purposes, including maintaining hygiene, food preparation, and sanitation, not to mention commercial applications.
But with more bias on drinking water, the quality of the water you take can have a huge impact on your health. Drinking water needs to be clean, disinfected, and free from contaminants as well as pollutants. But scratch all that and let’s be left with the two main types of water available on the planet; soft water and hard water! Now, there’s a high likelihood you learned about hard water in a chemistry class back in highschool or your umpteenth grade. Is drinking hard water really good for your health and wellness? Well, starting with a brief description of what hard water is, here’s what you ought to know about the risks of drinking hard water.
What is Hard Water?
Hard water is a phenomenon experienced in many places around the globe. Typically, the term “hard water” refers to water with dissolved mineral elements or compounds in high concentrations. The two main mineral elements that define hard water are calcium and magnesium in compound form. In a nutshell, hard water contains high concentrations of carbonates, sulfates, and chlorides of calcium and magnesium. These compounds mainly originate from porous rocks through which water passes before it can become accessible to humans. Even though groundwater is the most common type of hard water consumed by humans, rainwater, lake water, and seawater are also other forms of hard water.
Now, the main problem with hard water is that it often forms salt deposits along its course, especially due to changes in temperature. In households, hard water is commonly associated with problems such as higher energy bills, higher energy bills, and reduced appliance lifespan due to the formation of scales. It also doesn’t lather easily with soap, making laundry cleaning an uphill task. As long as it is clean and free from pathogens, hard water is generally considered safe for drinking.
But did you know that drinking hard water could possibly subject you to certain health risks? Well, research to assess some of these risks is still inconclusive, with some claims being debated, but why risk while you can soften hard water and eliminate these dissolved minerals? The guys at RO-System stated in the article www.ro-system.org/best-water-softeners/, say that the best way to eliminate the minerals responsible for water hardness is to use a water softener system. By choosing a good water conditioner system, you can easily say goodbye to the problems associated with hard water and make your home’s water safe for drinking. This is not to forget that eliminating these mineral salts also makes the water better-tasting and more refreshing. To paint the bigger picture, what could you be risking by drinking hard water?
Risks Associated with Drinking Hard Water
Abdominal Problems
With time, mineral deposits, salts, or scales are formed in the piping and plumbing through which hard water passes. In case the water supply is cut off or reduced for some reason, this could encourage the growth of mold and mildew, as well as certain pathogenic bacteria. When your water supply is back and it passes through these fixtures, your water supply gets contaminated. Additionally, the long-term consumption of hard water could affect the composition and balance of your gut microbiota, which is part of your immune defense mechanism. When your gut flora composition is distorted, you’re more likely to catch a disease, especially intestinal-related diseases. By drinking this water, you risk contracting a myriad of health problems, including digestive issues and GIT infections.
Kidneys Problems
The kidney is one of the most important organs in the human body. While regulating the water and mineral balance in your body, it gets rid of toxic substances and substances the body no longer needs through the process of excretion. Now, apparently, drinking hard water may not be all that good for your kidney health, especially if consumed over a long period. Several studies have shown that there’s a significant correlation between hard water and kidney stones, a condition that occurs when minerals are formed in your kidneys, making it extremely painful to pass urine. This is basically because hard water contains high levels of calcium and magnesium, which, when in excess in the kidneys, may lead to nephrolithiasis. However, there are many other factors at play, including genetics, geographic location, environmental exposure, diet, dehydration, obesity, and other medical conditions. All the same, softening hard water before drinking can reduce your risk of acquiring the stone disease.
Teeth Yellowing
This one may be a bit ironic. In highschool, you may or may have not learned of the importance of calcium in bone and teeth development. And if you check the labels right, many kinds of toothpastes have calcium as one of their ingredients. However, the long-term consumption of hard water can affect your dental health and aesthetics. It can cause yellowing of teeth, which has been observed in many areas where the main water supply is hard water. Thanks to advancements in water purification and filtration technology, however, many households in such areas install water softeners and have become more cautious about dental health.
Other Health Risks
Apart from the risks mentioned above, drinking or simply using hard water could have other negative impacts on your health. For instance, cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s have been seen to be more prevalent in hard water areas the water’s dissolved aluminum concentration is high. While high levels of calcium improve cognition, too much dietary calcium may also lead to cognitive decline. Even though there’s no substantial evidence to support it, there are also claims that drinking hard water could result in reproductive failure in adults in the long-term. The long term use of hard-water for bathing, washing hands, and cleaning has also been linked to skin problems such as eczema and dermatitis, especially in children. Hard water could also affect hair health, causing it to appear dull, discolored, flaky, and damaged, with the possibility of igniting hair loss.
When consumed just occasionally, even for drinking, hard water may not be all that demonic. It could actually provide your body with mineral it doesn’t get adequately from your diet. However, long-term consumption could mean subjecting yourself to the risks mentioned above or more. To stay safe, the best solution is to soften and purify your water, especially if hard water is all you have to work with.
